Guwahati, March 23: Assam will host the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav at Majuli in Upper Assam, Sipajhar in central Assam's Darrang district and Dudhnoi in lower Assam's Goalpara district from Monday to Wednesday.

The nine-day cultural extravaganza was inaugurated by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu in Tawang today. During the nine days, the festival will be simultaneously organised at multiple venues in different states of the Northeast.

The Mahotsav is being organised by the Union ministry of culture with the help of the North East Zone Cultural Centre. It is being held in the region for the first time.

In Majuli, the festival will be held at Banshi Gopal Natya Mandir in Garmur Xatra where it will showcase the traditional dance, drama and other art forms of the state and from outside. The organisers are planning to hold cultural programmes in 100 villages of Majuli.

The festival aims at presenting the rich cultural diversity and uniqueness of Indian culture, to bind the country in a single thread of culture and promote cultural inter-linkages among the people of the Northeast.

Artistes from Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha will perform their dance, drama and other art forms at the cultural programmes. Cultural troupes of the state will exhibit traditional dances of various communities.

Traditional art forms like zikir, zari, Holi songs, suknani ojapali from Sipajhar and traditional dance forms like deodhani, gayan bayan, nadubhongi, ampara, mati akhora, natuwa and jhumura will be performed during the festival.

The drama section will include acts like Kamrupia dhulia bhaona, Keli Gopal ankiya bhaona and mukha bhaona.